A/HRC/45/CRP.3 town who were not consulted on the process.51 The transfer represented a significant step in the ensuing conflict in Western Bahr el Ghazal State, and was the first of a series of deliberate acts on the part of President Kiir’s Government to attempt to wrest control over, and appropriate indigenous land throughout the State belonging to other ethnic communities, effectively marginalising and displacing them. The move further emboldened neighbouring Dinka cattle keepers from Tonj (Warrap State)52 to migrate across the lands of Fertit and Luo communities and allow their cattle to graze on unharvested crops, rendering many among the local population food insecure (para. 57, below). 51. In response to the transfer of the administrative headquarters from Wau town to Baggari, Fertit and Luo civilians in Wau town began peaceful protests in October 2012, including on the main road between Wau and Baggari.53 Demonstrations lasted for two months and, as they intensified, State police shot and killed a Luo boy on 8 December 2012.54 The following day, civilians in Wau organised another demonstration to protest his murder.55 Demonstrators marched from the area surrounding the central bank in Wau towards the Government secretariat, prompting a disproportionate response by SPLA soldiers who responded with lethal force by shooting and killing at least 11 civilians.56 52. Over the next six years, as SPLA-IO (RM) forces established bases throughout Western Bahr el Ghazal to protect the Fertit and Luo communities from Dinka cattle keepers and the encroachment of SPLA forces, the security situation throughout the State deteriorated considerably. 53. Conflict erupted in Wau town on 24 June 2016 with the arrival of SPLA soldiers. Witnesses described how the soldiers systematically looted the town including “everything from the door frames to window bars”, 57 and then burned down civilian homes (tukuls).58 Most victims of the violence in Wau town were members of the Fertit ethnic group.59 The battle for Wau Town was further characterised by attacks which included sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, and murder perpetrated by members of the SPLA.60 The escalating violence displaced civilians who fled and sought shelter in the Wau protection of civilians site (Annex VII), as well as in other collective sites for internally displaced persons including Nazareth and Lokoloko Church in Wau. At the time, Government forces had also erected checkpoints around the area to prevent civilians from selling their wares such as sorghum and groundnuts in the market, and to extort monies from them, including at Taban checkpoint. In other instances, civilians transporting charcoal reported having to pay SPLA soldiers money or a bag of charcoal to pass checkpoints.61 54. The following year, and to oust the SPLA-IO (RM) between January 2017 and November 2018, SPLA forces carried out a series of attacks (Annex III) in which they continued to perpetrate numerous violations, including the pillage of food and livestock indispensable to the survival of the local population, and the destruction and dispossession of civilian property, including the burning down of civilian homes (tukuls). ERN 101930 – 101935, para. 6. See also South Sudan president Kiir backs relocation of Wau county headquarters, SUDAN TRIBUNE, 24 December 2012, available at https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article44974. 52 ERN 101828 – 101835, para. 5. 53 ERN 101930 – 101935, para. 6. 54 ERN 101930 – 101935, para. 7. 55 ERN 101930 – 101935, para. 7. 56 ERN 101930 – 101935, para. 7. 57 ERN 103834 – 103839, para. 11. 58 ERN 103834 – 103839, para. 12. 59 ERN 103834 – 103839, para. 10. 60 ERN 103834 – 103839, para. 11. 61 ERN 103834 – 103839, para. 12. 51 15